Bengals Roster Breakdown: Justin Blazek brings leadership and versatility as a UDFA underdog

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.

Today, we transition to the Cincinnati's undrafted free agent class of 2024, starting with Justin Blazek. He doesn't hail from a powerhouse college program (or even Division I) but his background indicates he's capable of making a name for himself against far greater competition than he's ever faced before. 

Justin Blazek

• Age: 23
• Year: 1st
• Position: Edge defender
• College: Wisconsin-Platteville
• Previous Teams: None
• Jersey Number: 51

Blazek signed with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent following the 2024 NFL Draft. Before he was a pass-rusher, he arrived at UWP in 2019 as a tight end in an air raid scheme, which is basically a big receiver. He made the switch to edge defender late in his freshman following the cancelled 2020 season due to Covid, and injury kept him out of a good chunk of the 2021 season, though he was a team captain. 

In 2022, Blazek started to pop off. He was the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year with nine sacks and 12 tackles for loss as a team captain once more. He defender his DPOY honor and captaincy in 2023 with 8.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss, while also playing some offense with four rushing touchdowns. He also finished his career with four interceptions. 

Contract details

Blazek signed a three-year college free agent deal with the Bengals in May that will pay him the minimum salary for the 2024 season.

His salary will cost $795,000 for the entire season if he's kept on the team for the entire regular season, but with a $1,000 signing bonus, his cap hit as of now is $795,333 for the year. 

Roster chances

Cincinnati enters the lull of the offseason fairly deep at the edge position with Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson and hometown hero Sam Hubbard leading the way. Myles Murphy, Joseph Ossai, Cam Sample, and sixth-round pick Cedric Johnson will all be battling for reps behind the two starters, and Jeff Gunter is still around as well. 

And then there's Blazek, the lone undrafted player of the group that goes eight-deep. Keep in mind, the Bengals typically don't eclipse five, with six being the absolute maximum.